Tea-strainer.



@Own/www: n K QVLWMM EL @L @www PATENTBD'FEB. 25,1908.

B.l VON BLTZINGSLWEN.

TBA STRAINER.

APPLICATION FILED sEPT.z5.19o7.

UNITED sTATEs yPATENT OEEIOE.

BRUNO voN BULTZINosLOwEN, or NEw YORK, N. Y., AssIGNoR To FELIX KORNIOKER, OF

' NEw YORK, N. Y.

TEA-STRAINER. l L

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 25, 1908.

Application filed September 25. 1907. Serial No. 394.442A

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, BRUNO vON BLTZINGS- LWEN, a citizen of the United States, residing in New York, in the borough of the Bronx, county and State of New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Tea-Strainers, of which the following is a speciiication.

This invention relates to an improved teastrainer of that type which is made in the form of a spoon having a perforated bowl and a perforated cover for said bowl, so that the tea is retained between the bowl and cover while in the teapot, said strainer being conveniently filled with the required quantity of tea and the spent tea-leaves readily removed therefrom; and for this purpose the invention consists in the novel features of construction to be hereinafter described and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l represents a side-elevation of my improved tea-strainer, Fig. 2 is a top-view of Fig. l, Fig. 3 is a top-view of the blank for the spoon-handle, Fig. 4 is a detail top-view of the blank of the cover, and Fig. 5 is a detail vertical transverse section, drawn on a larger scale, on line 5, '5, Fig. 2.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts throughout the several iigures.

Referring to the drawings, a represents a perforated spoon-bowl which is provided with a handle al. The handle al is made of the blank shown in Fig. 3, and provided at the end which is connected with the bowl o with perforated laterally-extending integral ears a2 and perforated laterally-extending lugs a3, between which and the ears a contracted portion a4 is formed. The lugs a3 and the contracted rear-portion a4 are riveted or otherwise attached to the rear-end of the perforated bowl a, as shown in Fig. 1. To the handle a1 is pivoted near the bowl L a perforated cover b, which is made of in-` verted bowl-shape corresponding to the bowl a, and which is provided with a short shank b1 that is hinged by means of downwardlybent perforated ears b2 to the ears a2 bent-up from the handle al, the pintle d of the hingeconnection passing therethrough and being upset at its outer ends. The perforated cover I) and its shank t1 are stamped by means of suitable dies in one integral piece. The end o3 of the shank b1, shownin Fig. 4, is bent-up so as to form a thumb-piece for the cover l) for opening the same when placing the tea-leaves in the bowl a.

On the pintle d is located a helical spring d1, of which one end is connected with the handle al and the other end with the shank b1 of the perforated cover b, so that when the cover is opened against the spring by pressing on the thumb-piece b3, the spring d1 is set to tension while the cover closes instantly on the bowl when the thumb-piece b3 is released so as to inclose the tea-leaves placed in the same.

It will be noted that the bent-up thumbpiece t3 of the shank b1 will abut against the handle of the spoon-bowl when the cover is sufficiently open, so that a stop for the cover is thereby formed.

The tea-strainer can also be used for making coffee. In either case, the tea or coffee is retained in the closed bowl of the strainer. The strainer is then placed in the pot, so that the boiling water can act on the tea or coffee through the perforations in the bowls Of the strainer, without any leaves or grounds being carried off with the beverage.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

A tea-strainer comprising a spoon-bowl, a handle attached to said bowl and provided adjacent the same with ears bent up at the sides Of the handle integral therewith, a cover fitting over said bowl, a shank carried by said cover having downwardlybent ears, a pintle connecting said first and last named ears, a spring interposed between said shank and said handle,` and an upwardlydirected thumb-piece bent up from said shank at its rear end and which abuts against said handle and forms a stop to limit the opening movement of said cover.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my invention, I have signed my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

BRIIN() VON BLTZINGSLWEN.

Witnesses:

PAUL GOEPEL, HENRY J. SUHRBIEE. 

